VERY YOUNG children entering the foster care system are often born with drug addictions or have witnessed or been
victims of domestic violence; most
suffer from the ill effects of poverty,
homelessness, or both. Normally,
children have a high degree of natural
resilience and can bounce back from
stressful situations. However, when
infants and young children experience
long periods of high-intensity stress,
the notion of “resilience” often does not
apply. Their brain development suffers.

There are other developmental delays.

A recent study, “The Impact of Early
Adversity on Children’s Development,”
from Harvard University’s Center
on the Developing Child, has shown
that relentless stress on infants has a
measurable negative impact on brain
growth: “When strong, frequent, or
prolonged adverse experiences such as
extreme poverty or repeated abuse are
experienced without adult support, stress
becomes toxic, as excessive cortisol
disrupts developing brain circuits.” 1

But with early intervention fromcaring adults, the harm young childrenexperience can be greatly improved.

In an effort to provide early
intervention for young children at risk in
the dependency system, Pierce County
implemented the first Safe Babies Court
Team in Washington state in October

2016. Known locally as “Baby Court,” the
program is based on a national early-court-intervention program called the
Zero to Three Safe Babies Court Teams
Project (ZTT). Baby Court front-loads
services to dependent children and
their parents with the help of a team of
early childhood professionals from the
larger community.

In Baby Court, court social workersrefer dependent children to services suchas Birth to Three’s Early InterventionProgram, as well as to infant mentalhealth specialists. These entities supportinfants in accordance with currentbest practices. In addition, children inBaby Court are offered developmentalassessments—such as speech, vision,hearing, and cognitive screenings—sothat potential developmental delays canbe detected early, thus increasing thelikelihood of mitigation.

While the needs and best interests
of the children are most important,
the needs of the parents are also
addressed in Baby Court. Parents and
caregivers are encouraged to express
their individual challenges related
to parenting and are connected with
parenting coaches that provide training
in parenting and child development.

If parents are experiencing personalchallenges, they are also offered supportservices. In Baby Court there is anexpectation that if parents are healthyand supported, the children will be, too.In addition to this communitysupport, judicial review occurs morefrequently in Baby Court cases than inregular dependency cases. Close courtsupervision is an aspect of Baby Courtthat provides both more immediateaccountability in the dependencyprocess and an opportunity for the courtto provide encouragement to parentswhen things are going well. Reviewhearings are heard every 60 days, asopposed to once every six months inregular dependency proceedings. Thedifferences in Baby Court go beyondjust the frequency of proceedings. PierceCounty Superior Court Judge JohnR. Hickman, the current Baby Courtjudge, routinely gets down from thebench to speak with parents and theirchildren eye-to-eye. According to JudgeHickman, “Baby Court, because of thesmall docket, allows a judge time tospeak directly to the parents and showthat you care. Everyone involved inBaby Court is committed to the idea thatinfants deserve to be in a loving, trauma-free home sooner rather than later.”The proceedings in Baby Courtare transparent. All parties have beeninformed that the goal of Baby Court